Mothers' Day

I lost my mom last August.  I am thankful for her in my life and all that that means to me.  I very much appreciate the other mothers in my life who make a HUGE difference... including my wife and my daughter who is mother of my granddaughter... I love them all very much and honor them, not just today, but all days...

The honoring of Hallmark and FTD today aside, and the benefit that they gain from days like this in our culture... it seems to me that the MOTHERS in our society NEED TO BE HONORED...

Perhaps a way to honor them would be...

For our children to stop killing each other, in recognition that the one you are so angry with also has a
    mother...

For our politicians, who are elected to represent our mothers, to stop playing political games and honor our mothers by:
    taking assault weapons off our streets that kill both mothers and their children
    supporting health insurance initiatives that help working and/or poor mothers and their children
    make sure our mothers get paid a living wage (instead of a minimum one) for their hard work
    make sure our mothers get paid the SAME wage for the same work that our fathers get
    do what we can to clean up our environment so that the air, water, ground, food and all else
         is suitable for our mothers and their children to live with
    stop supporting two justice systems, so that the inequities of imprisonment are eliminated, and
         fewer mothers must visit their sons in prison
    stop trying to HURT the economy and jobs for political reasons, and create jobs so that our
         mothers' children will be able to find sustaining employment
    make education equal among ALL citizens, so that SOME mothers' children are not held down
    make sure affordable housing, utilities and transportation are available to ALL mothers and their
         children
And for us men to INSIST that they do that for our mothers...
   
For our churches and pastors, called to serve God's children and their mothers, honor them by:
    recognizing the mothers who are pastors as equals, and treating them equal to the males
    lifting up women as being equal, valued and honored in the church
    preach and teach on the gender neutral passages regarding God as they are in Hebrew, Greek
       and also, lift up the feminine images of God in scripture
    stop saving Womens' Day and Mothers' Day as the only days women preach in the church,
       or the only day women in the scripture are lifted up as virtuous servants
    and recognize our mothers' rights to do with their bodies as their conscience dictates, and
       make decisions regarding all sexual issues based on the same
And for us men to INSIST that they do that for our mothers...

For our men to be REAL MEN, and recognize their wives as highly valued mothers, equals and
   partners... not "less than" in ANY WAY... and to treat them with the respect, dignity and honor due
   them... and to raise their daughters as self-respecting, strong, dignified mothers to be (or not)... by
   showing them how a woman should be treated by her son, grandson, boyfriend, husband, brother,
   cousin or father...

Rather than the annual church attendance, worship service honors, dinners, flowers, cards and gifts...
   maybe EVERYDAY should be MOTHERS' DAY...

... it could be, if we would truly honor them.

Pastor Jamie